Bonum Certa Men Certa

Even UPC Proponents, Paid by the EPO's PR Firm, Admit That UPC May Never Happen

Watch out for the latest lies from Bristows

Bristows LLP and EPO



Summary: Speculations are being floated regarding the cause of the impasse, which is going to result in a very long period of uncertainty and possibly the collapse of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) as it was envisioned by Michel Barnier, Benoît Battistelli and other opportunists

MANY articles have already been published about the latest developments in Germany and quite a few articles about this have been published here too (over the past couple of days). We try to take stock of everything. This is very important. It's historic even.



EPO insiders are trying to figure out what goes through the minds of EPO management right now. Or what comes out of their lips... it can't be good.

This latest UPC failure was finally brought up in mainstream international media. Reuters, for example, says that "Germany delays common European redress for patent violations" and to quote the opening part:

Germany's constitutional court has held up a European patent law that would have allowed inventors in any member country to easily challenge patent violations in any other EU country, a spokeswoman said on Monday.


That's not a very good description as any person, not just "inventor" but even a troll from any country in the world, can exploit this to harm companies that are European. It's not at all desirable to Europe. It makes European companies ever more vulnerable.

Team UPC is already trying to belittle and mislead, as usual.

"Report[s] suggest this was an informal request," Henrion noted based on Bristows, "taking the form of a telephone call followed by written request..."

That's quite an understatement pushed forth by Manuel Rey-Alvite Villar and Lisa Schneider in Twitter and their marketing/propaganda blog. They said this: "The timescales going forward are presently unclear, but this move by the BVerfG does not necessarily mean that additional delay to the start of the UPC is inevitable, still less that there will be a final decision of the BVerfG finding that Germany cannot lawfully ratify the UPC Agreement."

This is a lie! It does "necessarily mean that additional delay to the start of the UPC is inevitable..."

Bristows workers, how much are you paid (or compensated) to lie so much? Here is a report from British press thats' targeting lawyers:

According to media reports, Germany's Constitutional Court is considering whether legislation backed by the country's parliament, which would give recognition to the jurisdiction of the UPC in Germany, is constitutional.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported that the Constitutional Court formally requested that German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier step back from formally signing the legislation into law while it considers the legal challenge that has been lodged. The president's office said the legal complaint filed is not a "hopeless" case, FAZ reported.

A spokesperson for Steinmeier has confirmed that the legislation will not be signed into law until an assessment of the legal complaint has been completed, according to Reuters.

In a protocol similar to Royal Assent in the UK, legislation passed by Germany's parliament must be signed by the president before it can come into force.

[...]

Last week, prior to news of the German legal challenge breaking, the body tasked with laying the foundations for the new judicial system to take effect, the UPC Preparatory Committee, said that its previous target date for the UPC to become operational, of December 2017, "cannot be maintained". The Committee blamed delays to the ratification of the UPC Agreement by some countries.


In Juve, the main writer on the subject said [1, 2]: "Kläger gg. UPC ohne anwaltl. Beistand in einer so komplexen Materie. Das muss ein spezialisierter Anwalt sein [...] Ein Kläger, der anonym bleiben will, kein anwaltl. Vertreter, die Gründe für UPC-Klage @BVerfG bleiben im Dunklen...."

This can be translated from German to say that the "applicant who wants to remain anonymous..."

Watch who is being propped up as an expert by Juve: Winfried Tilmann! Does the author not realise the rogue role of Tilmann? He is a key part of the whole UPC 'conspiracy'... other such people, Alexander Esslinger‏ for instance, admit the dire consequences: "It is expected that the German Constitutional Court decides about the German #UPC ratification in about 4-6 months..."

That's a very long time. It also serves to prove that Bristows is lying. It's very directly refuted by people who know better. As for IAM, it said in relation to Alexander Esslinger's estimates: "Looking at earliest UPC ratification in 2018 now. Throw in few more delays & 2019 begins to seem most likely for start, if it happens at all..."

This isn't the first time that IAM doubts the practicability of UPC altogether. Reality starts to set in. Managing IP, another booster of the UPC in "media" clothing, said: "The court case is a constitutional complaint (number 2 BVR 739/17) before the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) concerning the UPC Agreement."

This can take a very long time. Based on this comment, the complaint is very recent. To quote: "Any more infos about this case "BvR 739/17"? Search engines are pretty silent? "17" means it was filed this year?"

We think we know who filed it and on what basis. There are more complaints on their way and we are not at all surprised by this. The writings were all along on the wall and the dirty tricks of Team UPC belatedly take their toll and somehow it shocks them. As this other comment points out, a 1:30 (AM!) vote with just 5% of the members present is a symptom of UPC being a scam. We wrote about this at the time. "I think the reason could be more trivial," said the comment, "transfer of sovereignty requires a 2/3 majority of the members of the Bundestag and Bundesrat, which was not the case when the Bundestag took a vote during nighttime."

That's just one among many irregularities. A person then asked: "What makes you so sure it requires a two third majority? Art. 24 Grundgesetz seems to give the Bundestag the right to do this via a simple law."

The following person thinks it's "flabbergasting to think that all legal advisers in the government have missed such a simple point."

Well, maybe they hoped to bury these inconvenient (to them) facts. Remember where Maas stands on the UPC. Here is the full comment:

What was the fraction needed when the EPC and its amendment were ratified? If the fraction was indeed 2/3 then this might be the reason for the stop.

On the other hand, it seems so flabbergasting to think that all legal advisers in the government have missed such a simple point.


More on this 2/3 majority:

What I meant to say was that I can imagine the pending case that the Constitutional Court refers to is complaint due to the lack of a 2/3 majority of the members according to Article 23 GG in connection with Article 79 GG. I am not an expert on the German Constitution and I would not dare to guess if such a complaint would be successful. However, such complaint could fit the frame: "not wholly without merit" and filed in 2017 after the vote was cast in the parliament in March 2017.



The remaining comments focus on the EPC and bring up Battistelli (BB) as follows:

It's unlikely that the BvG is delaying ratification at this stage on a whim or that there has been some trifling error in the lower legislative process. Although the intervention is on an "Interim" basis, it is very rare that such a measure is granted at this legislative stage in Germany. A slow-burning issue over here, ever since BB's attempted dismissal of the BoA member, is that the theoretical deficiency in the EPC's "simulated" separation of powers under A23 EPC (tolerable, perhaps, under the German constitution) has now manifested itself in practice (not tolerable) through BB's actions. The executive (BB) has actually interfered with Judicial Independence in practice. The so-called "reforms" of the BoA structure are no more than a fig-leaf and might well make the situation worse. The AC has shown itself not capable of bringing BB to heel. Of course, this might affect the justiciability under the Grundgesetz not just of proposed unitary patents, but existing of pending EP(DE)s.



"Very interesting thanks," wrote one person, "but I don't see what BB has to do with the UPC."

One has got to have lived under a bridge to not know how Battistelli is connected to the UPC. A lot of the abuses of Battistelli were all along justified using "UPC" as a catch-all excuse.

Here is a good explanation of the correlation:

...what BB has to do with the UPC is simple.

UPC patents will be granted out of the EPO. BB is executive head of the granting mechanism of Unitary patents which can only be enforced via the UPC (and incidentally he has been the public cheerleader for a UP and the UPC system for years, see EPO website announcements ad nauseam)

The EPO BoA has a final Appeal instance which will rule on the validity of subject-matter that will eventually be enforceable against people in member states of the UPC.

Art. 23 of the EPC effectively requires that the members of the BoA (acting as the final arbiter of validity, from the Point of view of the patentee) should be Independent.

Events reported, for example on so many IPkat threads in the past, would arguably leave the reasonable person in some doubt as to whether those BoA members are really Independent.

The German Basic Law under Article 97 refers to and provides a guarantee of Judicial Independence in Germany.

If a property right granted via the EPO comes into effect in Germany via an administrative process which arguably might not comply with the principle Judicial independence, the BvG might want to take a look at that.

Just sayin'.



Henrion (FFII) then weighed in to say: "Remember that the rules of procedure (130 pages of laws) are not made and approved by parliaments. They are a disgrace to how laws should be made in a democracy."

Expect FFII to begin an intervention/interference soon. It already issued a press release against the UPC earlier this year (one that we had drafted).

Here is more on this:

Ben, I suspect that you are right. I am sure that Germany is able to participate in the UPC, it is just a question of whether or not that are going about it the right way. If they have not done it right presumably they will have to start ratification again (and that would be after their election)

Does anyone know how long it will be before we get a ruling? If the timing slips further we run the risk of Brexit having happened before the UPC opens its doors.

Any Brits enjoying the schadenfreude of Germany delaying the UPC should remember that the Queens Speech setting out the UK government's legislative programme has apparently been delayed because of the necessity to write it out on goat skin and the fact that the ink takes many days to dry on that surface.



"Asking 25 national parliaments to approve each and every minor issue will cost a decade per Rule change," the following comment said. Well, that's the law. Don't be pursuing shortcuts just for a bunch of trolls and law firms.

Come on. Neither the EPC nor the PCT could be handled absent easily amendable Rules, and the same holds for the UPC. Especially for a totally new organization it is essential that it is easily possible to adapt the Rules to practical issues that will only appear in practice. Asking 25 national parliaments to approve each and every minor issue will cost a decade per Rule change.



Issues associated with Battistell's abuses are now starting to creep in as well. He had done so much to damage the legitimacy of the EPC and the EPO that he possible left the UPC too in ruins:

The issue in the older case is less a granted patent by the EPO, but a lack of independent courts for applicants whose application got refused. If the BoA/DG3 is not independent, then the applicant who did NOT get a patent got denied his constitutional right to an independent judges review of an administrative decision. There could be several sanctions the BVerfG could impose: - Germany has to leave the EPC with immediate effect (extremely unlikely, especially since the EPC worked so fine since so many years.) - Germany has to work towards an amendment of the EPC within X years, or leave within that timeframe (the timetable will be tight, and not work without the required diplomatic conference) - Applicants get, after refusal, access to German courts for a German patent/side entry to national DE phase (unlikely, but could be proposed by the judges for an intermediate solution - might need a minor law by the German parliament)

We'll see, either solution will not be liked by the EPO management, as their recent "reform" of perceived independence will also be scrutinized by the judges of the federal constitutional court in Germany.



This morning we found some new comments too. One anonymous comment referring to FAZ:

In its Wednesday edition, the FAZ still has not been able to get the Constitutional Court to give it more detail, so it decided it's best to turn to conspiracy theories instead. Ready? Did you know that the Justice allegedly acting as rapporteur in this case is married to the Chief Judge of the Federal Patent Court?



Further explanation of the FAZ piece (which everyone seems to link to) soon followed:

Some details from tomorrow's FAZ article: Office of the President confirmed it has "suspended" its pre-certification review of the German consent act to the unified patent court, at the request of the Constitutional Court (case 2 BvR 739/17). According to the Office of the President, the Court considers the constitutional complaint "not, at the outset, without prospect" ("nicht von vornherein aussichtslos"). While the complaint as well as a "parallel" emergency petition concerned the law governing the patent court, patent reform as a whole is also on hold, being "materially interlinked", according to the Office of the President. FAZ hasn't learned how long the procedure is set to be on hold, and what exactly the reason is.


We are trying very hard to gather information about this because we predict that many lies will soon be disseminated, not just by the likes of Bristows, where lying has become a matter of routine. They seem to have lost their humility or the ability to shy away from falsehoods. They're patently evil.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Attacks on Techrights Are Only Making Techrights Bigger and Even More Popular
A week ago they offered to settle with us
EPO Staff Can Go Listen to Richard Stallman Next Week in Munich (Technical University of Munich, Rudolf-Diesel Hörsaal (MW2001) on Campus Garching at 18:00)
"The talk is open to the public and attendance is free. Registration is not required."
At IBM, Relocation Means Layoffs (Downsizing)
Silent or 'invisible' layoffs?
Dystopian Trends in Technology Make Richard Stallman More Relevant Than Ever
It's good to see him attracting vast audiences
Richard Stallman (RMS) Announced His Talk Less Than 24 Hours Before It Took Place and Still Filled Up the Auditorium at Sapienza Università di Roma
Photos from yesterday evening [...] It looks like it was a very successful event
 
The DDoS Attacks by Microsoft's Scam Altman and Other Slop Charlatans and Frauds is Hurting the FSF, Delinking It From Copyleft Projects
This impacts a lot more than access to the licences
Microsoft Scanning Faces in Photos People Upload to Microsoft (Even Unconsciously), Slashdot Turns Report About It Into "Microsoft Sez" (Says)
Or "let's repeat the lies from a PR person/Microsoft's publicist"
[Teaser] Angel Aledo Lopez the Manipulator (Nepotism, Poll Rigging, and Other EPO Corruption)
We'll discuss this later today or tomorrow, based on internal EPO material
Epic Metaphor for End of IBM: "The IBM Demolition is Down to the Last Shards!"
Nothing lasts forever
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Proprietary and DRM Prisons Spiralling Down the Sinkhole? Not Just Yet.
Let's hope that more people will flee to GNU/Linux
The European Patent Office (EPO), the Second-Largest Institution in Europe, is Cracking Down on Recreational Activities
Without AMICALE activities, and as staff already says it's pressured to work more for less, how can the EPO recruit bright people?
Transparency: FSFE financial reports exclude speaker fees and expenses
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Many Developers Have Many Political Views, They'll Never Agree on Everything
It's an effort to divide and destroy, not build
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: An Opportunity to Consider GNU/Linux and Another Simple IRC Client
Links for the day
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, LinuxSecurity, Google News, and the Serial Slopper Brian Fagioli
Nothing of merit here, just more slop
Links 14/10/2025: Lack of Trust in Slop and "Retirement Challenges"
Links for the day
Rhonda D'Vine, Gerfried Fuchs, Pronouns & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Central Staff Committee of the European Patent Office (EPO) Warns That EPO Management is Robbing or Manipulating Pension Funds Again
Faking "growth" is just about as bad as forgery
Probably a Lot Worse Than LLM Slop: GNOME Tying Itself to Divisive Politics, Even Where It's Clearly Not Relevant
Something has gone terribly wrong in GNOME
Links 14/10/2025: Microsoft OneDrive Scanning Faces in Photos (Without Asking First), "OpenAI Says It Will Move to Allow Smut"
Links for the day
They Generally Don't Like Scholars, as They're Less Compelled or Pressured to Repeat What Corporations and Oligarchs Say
People who loathe scholars have an agenda in mind that, unlike that of reasonable people, revolves around controlling people
Belated New Article About Last Thursday's Lecture by Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Finland
there are good reasons to pay with cash, not limited to privacy
Attacking Richard Stallman Has Become 'Career Suicide'
If you're going to viciously attack somebody, make sure your arguments are rock-solid
Microsoft's Failing XBox Business Has Turned Games Into Funerals
How does it feel to depend on Microsoft?
Yesterday's "Distinguished Lecture" by Richard Stallman Possibly Attended by Close to 1,000 People
The capacity of the place is about 900
Slop Poisons Everything
Imagine wanting to find what Torvalds has just said or what has just been released
Taking Software Freedom 'Mainstream'
interest in Software Freedom must have grown
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 13, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 13, 2025
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: Ada Lovelace Day, Sony CLIE PEG-TG50 Review, Why to Avoid Network Solutions
Links for the day
The EPO's War on Techrights Was a Massive Mistake
The EPO started the SLAPPs after we had published a few hundreds of articles; we've since then published close to 6,000 because the attacks on us emboldened insiders to help us
General-Purpose Computers to Become Growing Area of Coverage
Without them, we have little left for controlling our lives
"They missed a great opportunity to shut up." -Jacques Chirac
Brett Wilson LLP has been trying to cheat the legal system many times
Harassment evidence: Switzerland, overcrowded fitness and yoga centers, incompetence and racism in accident response
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Vincent Danjean & Debian NXIVM collateral, blackmail risks
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
In Sweden This Past Friday Richard Stallman Explained Why Copyleft is Important
And he didn't have to 'bash' BSDs, either
IBM Layoffs Due to a Lack of Money and Company Debt Rising by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in 6 Months
IBM didn't buy Red Hat for any ideological reasons; it was a fast "cash grab" for revenue
Forbes Already Stopped Being a News Sites. Now It's a Spam and Propaganda Platform for "Paying Partners" (Companies).
news from Forbes became very scarce
Is the Second-Largest Institution in Europe (EPO) Gradually Becoming More Like a Sweatshop?
Underpaid, unqualified, inexperienced and incompatible people are already recruited to replace veteran examiners
The Register MS Has No FOSS Coverage Anymore
The Editor in Chief is like a Microsoft plant
Links 13/10/2025: "Toasty Subwoofer" and WiFi Speakers "Are About To Go Dumb"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: iNaturalist and Tove Jansson’s Moominpappa at Sea
Links for the day
Microsoft Does Not Deny That Large Retailers Like Walmart, Costco and Target Are Giving Up on XBox (and Not Stocking It)
No doubt XBox is in trouble and rumours suggest that more mass layoffs are imminent
We'll Encourage Richard Stallman to Talk About Software Patents at the EPO Next Week When He Visits Munich (EPO Headquarters)
Go listen to Richard Stahlmann
Investigative Journalism Protects Society From Corruption, Crimes Against Women, Assaults on Civil Society
"what is the point of men doing military practice to defend a system that is so rotten?"
Swiss pimp usurping reputation of legendary Tissot boss Francois Thiébaud from France (BaselWorld, SWATCH Group SA)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk in 3 Hours, Then in the Technical University of Munich (Germany) Next Week
Richard Stallman at TUM on 21.10.2025 18:00, MW2001
Arnaud Parreaux lost case defending rogue employer
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Mathieu Elias Parreaux declared bankrupt in Switzerland
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Breakdown of the Rule of Law and Patent Law in the European Union (EU)
The EPO cannot recruit suitably qualified patent examiners this way, let alone retain them
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Good Films, Wizard of Earthsea, Upgrading the Steam Controller's Stick
Links for the day
Leaks and Whistleblowers: Our Plan for Today
Society simply cannot advance when too many people self-censor
It's Not Justice When One Side Denies the Other Side the Ability to Even Speak
At this stage, Brett Wilson LLP is in my humble opinion acting in contempt of the Court
Links 13/10/2025: Australian Catholic University Uses Slop to Libel Students, Canada Threatens to Kill Beluga Whales
Links for the day
How Not to Silence Tux Machines (It'll Only Backfire, Badly)
defending Microsoft while attacking this site
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT and Google News
It seems abundantly clear that Google News and Google in general participates in the slop epidemic
Vincent Danjean (not INTERPOL), Claire Bardel & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Christmas lynchings: Martin Krafft (madduck), Penny Leach (mjollnir) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Birthdays and "Committee Unable to Contact Nobel Prize Winner"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 12, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 12, 2025